Sindh TV cable distribution halted

Cable operators were ordered to stop delivering the privately owned Sindhi-language channel by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA). The broadcaster was given no explanation by the government for its decision. The channel’s management said the authority did not say how long the ruling would last. Launched in October 2004 with headquarters in Bangkok, the station is distributed by cable inside and outside of Pakistan.

Karim Rajpar, owner of the channel, told the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists that he has been informed by PEMRA officials that the action has been taken on the directive of high officials. “I have been told that it has been done on the orders from Islamabad,” he told PFUJ.

The channel has received threats of closure from the government in the past, and had recently aired a story about the murder of a policeman, but owners said they did not understand why the channel had been shut down.